Insert-injection process for forming a container

ABSTRACT

A plastic container comprises a main body, a large-diameter member and a small-diameter-formed member. The main body is formed of a plastic laminate film into a tubular shape. The large-diameter-formed member is joined to the outer surface of the end of the main body by an insert-injection process. The small-diameter-formed member is jointed to the inner surface of the other end of the main body by the insert-injection process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention includes the first to forth inventions. Thefirst invention relates to a plastic container, which is suitable forreceiving contents in the form of powder, particle or liquid, and amethod for manufacturing such a plastic container. The second inventionrelates to a container for receiving fluid such as calking agent,sealant, adhesive, mayonnaise or the like. The third invention relatesto a fluid discharging apparatus for squeezing a fluid dispensingcartridge formed of a film into a tubular shape from its one end todischarge fluid such as adhesive received in its inside from an openingend provided at the other end of the cartridge, and to an installationapparatus, which is to be used in combination with the above-mentionedfluid discharging apparatus. The fourth invention relates to a fluiddischarging apparatus for squeezing a fluid dispensing cartridge formedof a flexible film to discharge fluid such as adhesive, calking agent orthe like, which is received in the cartridge.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] With respect to the first invention, a container for receiving asolid such as ground coffee beans, the moisture of which should bedecreased, is required to be formed of material through which moisturecannot pass. As such a kind of container, there is generally used aglass container, a metallic can or a plastic container obtained by ablow molding method.

[0005] The glass container or the metallic can are excellent inmoisture-proof property and gas isolating property, and has a goodstoring property. They however have problems of weight and volume of thecontainer itself, which may hinder a disposal of the used container.

[0006] The plastic container obtained by the blow molding method cansolve the problems of weight and volume of the glass container and themetallic can. It is however impossible to decrease the thickness of theplastic container under 0.7 mm by the conventional blow molding method.Accordingly, with respect to the plastic container obtained by the blowmolding method, only a co-extruded article of a barrier base materialsuch as ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymer resins (i.e., “EVAL”(trademark)) and a synthetic resin material such as polyethylene,polypropylene or the like can provide appropriate moisture-proofproperty and gas isolating property.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the plasticcontainer, the applicant developed a method for manufacturing theplastic container, which comprises the steps of putting an intermediatetubular body formed of a plastic laminate film on a mandrel serving as acore for a mold; putting upper and lower local molds on the mandrel inwhich the intermediate tubular body has already been put; injectingsynthetic resin material in a molten state into the upper and lowerlocal molds by the insert-injection process so as to form upper andlower formed members integrally with the outer surface of theintermediate tubular body.

[0008] The plastic container 1 obtained by the above-described methodfor manufacturing the plastic container comprises the intermediatetubular body 2, the upper formed member 3 integrally connected to theouter surface of the upper end portion of the intermediate tubular body2, the lower formed member 4 integrally connected to the outer surfaceof the lower end portion of the intermediate tubular body 2 and a covermember 5 for closing the opening end of the upper formed member 3, asshown in FIG. 6.

[0009] The intermediate tubular body of the plastic container is formedof the plastic laminate film so that a multicolor printing can beapplied on the outer surface of the intermediate tubular body. However,the upper and lower formed members formed on the outer surface of theintermediate tubular body decrease the effective area on which theprinting is to be applied.

[0010] When the above-described method for manufacturing the plasticcontainer is carried out under the conditions that the lower formedmember is provided with a bottom and the lower edge of the intermediatetubular body comes into contact with such a lower formed member,wrinkles may occur at the end of the intermediate tubular body or theend thereof may be turned up due to the injection pressure of thesynthetic resin material in the molten state during the insert injectionforming, thus leading to substandard articles.

[0011] With respect to the second invention, the container for receivingfluid such as calking agent, sealant, adhesive, mayonnaise or the likegenerally comprises a main body formed into a tubular shape havingopposite opening ends and two bottom members (i.e., closing devices) forclosing the opposite opening ends of the main body, respectively. Thecontainer can receive the fluid such as adhesive in its inside. The mainbody is formed of a laminate comprising a plurality of films in order toensure strength and to prevent surely an air ventilation between theoutside and inside of the main body. Each of the bottom members isformed into a circular shape having sufficient rigidity. A hole isformed in the central portion of any one of the bottom members. The holeis closed by a sealing film. The bottom members are fixed to theopposite opening ends of the main body, thus closing the oppositeopening ends thereof and ensuring a shape maintenance property of thewhole container.

[0012] When the fluid, for example adhesive, received in the container,is used, the sealing film for closing the hole is broken and a nozzle isconnected to the hole. The container is then inserted into a cylinder ofa fluid discharging apparatus such as a discharging gun. When a pressingbody, which is slidable in the cylinder, presses the other bottom memberof the container, the main body is squeezed so that its portion near thepressing body deforms into a bellows-shape. Consequently, the adhesivereceived in the container is discharged through the hole and the nozzle.

[0013] The press of the container by means of the pressing body causesincrease in internal pressure of the main body, leading to expansion ofthe main body. As a result, the laminate forming the main body isstrongly pressed against the inner surface of the cylinder so that aportion of the laminate may stick to the inner surface of the cylinder.A further advance of the pressing body in such a condition may cause thestuck portion of the laminate to be caught between the inner surface ofthe cylinder and the outer surface of the pressing body. If once theportion of the laminate is caught between them, the length thereofincreases in proportion to the moving distance of the pressing body.When the length of the caught portion of the laminate exceeds theprescribed value, the pressing body cannot advance, thus making itimpossible to discharge the adhesive from the container.

[0014] Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. S56-51,265 disclosesa method for preventing the occurrence of the above-mentioned catchingproblem of the laminate. The method comprises the steps of inserting acontainer into a tubular body, which is formed of a sheet-shaped film,and inserting both of the container and the tubular body into acylinder. The tubular body placing between the inner surface of thecylinder and the outer surface of the container prevents the laminatefrom being caught between them.

[0015] According to the method disclosed in Japanese Patent ProvisionalPublication No. S56-51,265, it is necessary to put the tubular memberoutside the container whenever a new container for fluid is used, thuscausing troublesome problems. After the fluid received in the containeris used up, the tubular member is also subjected to disposal as waste,leading to an increased amount of wastes.

[0016] With respect to the third invention, the fluid dischargingapparatus comprises a receiving tube having a pressing body, which isslidable in the inside of the receiving tube, a piston for urging thepressing body in the longitudinal direction of the receiving tube. Whenthe piston presses a fluid-dispensing cartridge, which is put in thereceiving tube, through the pressing body, the cartridge is squeezedfrom its end portion locating the pressing body side. Consequently, thefluid such as adhesive received in the cartridge is discharged throughthe opening end, which is opposite to the above-mentioned end portion.

[0017] The film for forming the cartridge has an extremely smallthickness of from several ten μm to several hundred μm. As a result, inthe conventional fluid discharging apparatus, there may occur a problemthat a portion of the film is caught between the inner surface of thereceiving tube and the outer surface of the pressing body during themovement of the piston. In view of such a problem, Japanese PatentProvisional Publication No. H6-77,855 discloses an apparatus in whichring-shaped projections are formed on the outer peripheral surface ofthe opposite ends of the pressing body so as to bring only theseprojections into contact with the inner peripheral surface of thereceiving tube. According to such a structure, a contact surfacepressure of the pressing body against the receiving tube can beincreased, thus preventing the film from being caught between thereceiving tube and the pressing body.

[0018] According to the apparatus disclosed in Japanese PatentProvisional Publication No. H6-77,855, it is possible to prevent theoccurrence of catching problem of the film for a short period of time.However, it cannot provide such an effect for a long period of time.

[0019] More specifically, the projections of the pressing body move soas to be pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the receivingtube and come into contact with it, with the result that they wear awayfor a short period of time. In general, the pressing body is oftenformed of resin in view of making it light and saving the productioncosts. In such a case, the projections of the pressing body easily wearaway rapidly. The wear of the projections decreases their externaldiameter accordingly, thus reducing the contact surface pressure of theprojections against the receiving tube. As a result, there may cause theoccurrence of the catching problem of the film. In the conventionalapparatus, such a catching problem of the film may occur due to the wearof the pressing body. It is therefore impossible to prevent theoccurrence of such a problem for a long period of time.

[0020] With respect to the fourth invention, the fluid dischargingapparatus includes a fluid-discharging gun. The fluid discharging guncomprises a main body, a piston, which is reciprocally movable on themain body, and a cylinder having a pressing body, which is slidable inthe inside of the cylinder. The main body has a supporting member towhich the cylinder is detachably put. The cylinder is put on thesupporting member so that the longitudinal axis of the cylindercoincides with the moving direction of the piston. The piston advancesto come into the cylinder, thus moving the pressing body.

[0021] When the fluid-discharging gun having the above-describedstructure is used, the cartridge is inserted into the cylinder and thecylinder is put on the supporting member. The advance of the pistoncauses the movement of the pressing body. Consequently, the cartridge issqueezed to discharge the fluid such as adhesive from its front end inthis manner. When the fluid received in the cartridge is used up, thepiston is moved back to retreat from the cylinder. The cylinder is thendetached from the supporting member. Then, the used cartridge placing onthe front-end portion of the supporting member is removed so as to besubjected to disposal. The load of a new cartridge into the fluiddischarging gun makes it possible to use again the gun.

[0022] The conventional fluid-discharging gun in which the cylinder isdetachable from the main body has a problem that the exchange operationof the cartridge requires much labor.

[0023] More specifically, when a new cartridge is used, the cylinder isheld with one hand and the new cartridge is held with the other hand.The cartridge is inserted into the cylinder. One of these hands canaccordingly be unoccupied, with which the main body of the fluiddischarging gun is held. Then, the cylinder is put on the supportingmember of the gun. With respect to a soft-type cartridge, which is usedup, the main body of the gun is held with one hand and the cylinder isdetached from the supporting member by the other hand. Then, thecylinder is placed in the vicinity of an operator. Accordingly, theother hand becomes unoccupied and the used soft-type cartridge isremoved from the main body of the gun by the other hand. In theconventional fluid-discharging gun, the operation for the main body ofthe gun and the operation for the cylinder cannot be carried outsimultaneously in this manner. The passing operation of the main body ofthe gun, the cylinder or the cartridge from one hand to the other isrequired for exchange of the cartridge. In addition, the cartridgegenerally has a circular cross section. When the cartridge is placed inthe vicinity of the operator after its removal from the main body of thegun, it may roll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0024] The first invention was made in view of the above-mentionedproblems. An object of the first invention is to provide a plasticcontainer, in which a larger effective area on which the printing is tobe applied, in comparison with the conventional plastic container, canbe provided on a tubular body, and it is possible to prevent wrinklesfrom occurring at the end of the tubular body and to prevent the endthereof from being turned up during the insert injection forming, aswell as a method for manufacturing the above-mentioned container.

[0025] In order to attain the aforementioned object, the plasticcontainer of the first invention comprises a main body formed of aplastic laminate film into a tubular shape; a large-diameter-formedmember joined to an outer surface of an end of said main body by aninsert-injection process; and a small-diameter-formed member jointed toan inner surface of another end of said main body by theinsert-injection process. Arranging the small-diameter-formed memberinside the main body permits to provide a larger effective area of themain body, on which the printing is to be applied, in comparison withthe conventional plastic container.

[0026] The first invention includes the other type of the plasticcontainer, which comprises a main body formed of a plastic laminate filminto a tubular shape; a large-diameter-formed member joined to an innersurface of an end of said main body by an insert-injection process; anda small-diameter-formed member jointed to an inner surface of anotherend of said main body by the insert-injection process. Arranging both ofthe large-diameter-member and the small-diameter-formed member insidethe main body permits to provide a far larger effective area of the mainbody, on which the printing is to be applied, in comparison with theconventional plastic container.

[0027] The first invention also includes a method for manufacturing aplastic container, which comprises the steps of: preparing a mold, whichhas a first cavity for forming a large-diameter-formed member and asecond cavity for forming a small-diameter-formed member, said secondcavity has an outside diameter, which is smaller than an inside diameterof said first cavity; forming a tubular body of a plastic laminate film;putting said tubular body on an outer surface of a mandrel serving as acore for said mold; placing said mandrel on which said tubular body hasbeen put, in said mold so that an end of said tubular body locatesinside said first cavity and another end thereof locates outside saidsecond cavity; and injecting synthetic resin material in a molten stateinto said first and second cavities of said mold by an insert-injectionprocess so as to form a large-diameter-formed member integrally with anouter surface of the end of said tubular body and form asmall-diameter-formed member integrally with an inner surface of theother end of said tubular body. According to such a method, it ispossible to pull easily the mandrel, which has been placed in the mold,from the mold, without being hindered by the formed members.

[0028] The first invention also includes the other method formanufacturing a plastic container, which comprises the steps of:preparing a mold, which has a first cavity for forming alarge-diameter-formed member and a second cavity for forming asmall-diameter-formed member, said second cavity has an outsidediameter, which is smaller than an inside diameter of said first cavity;forming a tubular body of a plastic laminate film; putting said tubularbody on an outer surface of a mandrel serving as a core for said mold;placing said mandrel on which said tubular body has been put, in saidmold so that an end of said tubular body locates outside said firstcavity and another end thereof locates outside said second cavity; andinjecting synthetic resin material in a molten state into said first andsecond cavities of said mold by an insert-injection process so as toform a large-diameter-formed member integrally with an inner surface ofthe end of said tubular body and form a small-diameter-formed memberintegrally with an inner surface of the other end of said tubular body.According to such a method, it is possible to pull easily the mandrel,which has been placed in the mold, from the mold, without being hinderedby the formed members.

[0029] An object of the second invention is to provide a container forfluid, which can solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0030] In order to attain the aforementioned object, the container forfluid of the second invention comprises: a main body formed of alaminate into a tubular shape having opposite opening ends, in whichfluid can be received, said laminate comprising a plurality of flexiblefilms; and a pair of closing devices, which close the opposite openingends of said main body, respectively, which is characterized in that:adjacent two films of said plurality of flexible films are laminated sothat at least one pair of opposing portions of said adjacent two filmscan independently behave as the flexible film.

[0031] In the second invention, there may preferably be adopted astructure that said adjacent two films are joined with each other bymeans of at least one joined portion and portions of said adjacent twofilms other than said at least one joined portion can independentlybehave as the flexible film.

[0032] The above-mentioned at least one joined portion is preferablyformed into at least one circular-shaped joined portion, whichcircumferentially extends on said main body in a shape of circle.

[0033] The above-mentioned circular-shaped joined portion may locate inthe end portion of said main body, in each of the opposite end portionsthereof, or in the middle portion thereof in its longitudinal direction.

[0034] At least one longitudinal joined portion, which extends from theone end of said main body to the other end thereof, may further beformed as said at least one joined portion.

[0035] The above-mentioned at least one joined portion may preferably beformed by joining said adjacent two films by means of adhesive.

[0036] The above-mentioned adjacent two films preferably locate in theoutermost position of said main body.

[0037] The above-mentioned main body may be formed by placing one edgeportion of said laminate on another edge portion thereof, and joining aninnermost film of the one edge portion of said laminate with anoutermost film of the other edge portion thereof.

[0038] There may preferably be adopted a structure that the closingdevice for closing the one opening end of said main body comprises afront-bottom member with rigidity, which is formed into a circular shapehaving substantially the same diameter as that of the one opening end ofsaid main body and has a hole formed in a central portion of saidfront-bottom member, and a sealing film for closing said hole; theclosing device for closing the other opening end of said main bodycomprises a rear-bottom member with rigidity, which is formed into acircular shape having substantially the same-diameter as that of theother opening end of said main body; and said one opening end of saidmain body is joined to a periphery of said front-bottom member and saidother opening end thereof is joined to a periphery of said rear-bottommember.

[0039] An object of the third invention is to provide a fluiddischarging apparatus, which can solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0040] In order to attain the aforementioned object, the fluiddischarging apparatus of the third invention comprises: a receiving tubehaving a pressing body, which is sidable in an inside of said receivingtube; and a piston for urging said pressing body to move same, a fluiddispensing cartridge, which comprises a film and is to be inserted intosaid receiving tube, being capable of being squeezed by pressing saidfluid dispensing cartridge through said pressing body by means of saidpiston, so as to discharge fluid from said fluid dispensing cartridge;which apparatus is characterized in that: said pressing body comprises atubular member, which is slidable on an inner peripheral surface of saidreceiving tube, and a plate member formed on an inner peripheral surfaceof said tubular member; and a central portion of said plate member is tobe pushed by means of said piston so that said plate member elasticallydeforms into a curved shape.

[0041] In the apparatus of the third invention, a peripheral portion ofsaid plate member is preferably also pressed by said piston when forceapplied to said plate member by said piston exceeds a prescribed value.

[0042] In the apparatus of the third invention, said piston preferablycomprises a central pressing portion for pressing said central portionof said plate member and a peripheral pressing portion for pressing aperipheral portion of said plate member, said peripheral pressingportion being separately formed from said central pressing portion.

[0043] The third invention also includes an installation apparatus for afluid dispensing cartridge, which can detachably fitted to a fluiddischarging apparatus having a piston and comprises: a receiving tubebeing capable of receiving in its inside the fluid dispensing cartridgecomprising a film; and a pressing body being slidable in the inside ofsaid receiving tube; movement of said pressing body by means of saidpiston of said fluid discharging apparatus causing said fluid dispensingcartridge to be squeezed; which apparatus is characterized in that: saidpressing body comprises a tubular member, which is slidable on an innerperipheral surface of said receiving tube, and a plate member formed onan inner peripheral surface of said tubular member; and said platemember has a projection, which is formed on a central portion of atleast one of opposite surfaces of said plate member, said piston beingcapable of coming into contact with said projection and pushing same sothat said plate member elastically deforms into a curved shape.

[0044] In the above-mentioned installation apparatus of the thirdinvention, said projection is preferably formed on the central portionof each of the opposite surfaces of said plate member.

[0045] In the above-mentioned installation apparatus of the thirdinvention, said projection and a peripheral portion of said plate memberare preferably pressed by said piston when force applied to said platemember by said piston exceeds a prescribed value.

[0046] An object of the fourth invention is to provide a fluiddischarging apparatus, which can solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0047] In order to attain the aforementioned object, the fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention comprises: a main body; apiston, which is reciprocally movable on said main body; and a cylinderhaving a pressing body, which is slidable in an inside of said cylinder,said piston being capable of coming into said cylinder to move saidpressing body so that a fluid dispensing cartridge, which is to beinserted into said cylinder, can be squeezed to discharge fluid fromsaid dispensing cartridge; which apparatus is characterized in that:said cylinder is movable relative to said main body in a reciprocalmoving direction of said piston and rotatable around a rotational axis,which is perpendicular to the reciprocal moving direction of saidpiston.

[0048] In the above-mentioned fluid discharging apparatus of the fourthinvention, said rotational axis preferably locates in an central portionof said cylinder in its longitudinal direction. There may preferably beadopted a structure that said main body has a pair of supporting arms,which extend in a reciprocal moving direction of said piston; and saidcylinder is positioned between said pair of supporting arms, saidcylinder being supported at its opposite side portions on said pair ofsupporting arms so as to be movable in a longitudinal direction thereofand rotatable around the rotational axis, which is perpendicular to saidpair of supporting arms.

[0049] In the above-mentioned fluid discharging apparatus of the fourthinvention, there may be adopted a structure that a nozzle supportingdevice is provided at front ends of said pair of supporting arms, saidnozzle supporting device being supported on said pair of supporting armsso as to be swingable around an axis, which is perpendicular to saidpair of supporting arms; and a nozzle, which is to be connected to afront end of said fluid dispensing cartridge so as to discharge thefluid therefrom, is mounted on said nozzle supporting device.

[0050] In the above-mentioned fluid discharging apparatus of the fourthinvention, there may be adopted a structure that said nozzle supportingdevice is slidable within a prescribed region in the longitudinaldirection of said pair of supporting arms, a slide of said nozzlesupporting device toward the front ends of said pair of supporting armspreventing said nozzle supporting device from swinging and the slidethereof toward a rear ends of said pair of supporting arms permittingsaid nozzle supporting device to swing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051]FIG. 1 is a front view having a half cross-sectional portion,illustrating a plastic container obtained in accordance with amanufacturing method of an embodiment of the first invention;

[0052]FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the method of theembodiment of the first invention for manufacturing the plasticcontainer;

[0053]FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the second cavity for forming asmall-diameter-formed member in the method of the embodiment of thefirst invention for manufacturing the plastic container;

[0054]FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating the method of anotherembodiment of the first invention for manufacturing the plasticcontainer;

[0055]FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the method of furtheranother embodiment of the first invention for manufacturing the plasticcontainer;

[0056]FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a plastic containerobtained by the conventional manufacturing method;

[0057]FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of alaminate used in a container for fluid of the second invention;

[0058]FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating an embodiment of the containerfor fluid of the second invention, in which the laminate as shown inFIG. 7 is used;

[0059]FIG. 9 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view of thecontainer as shown in FIG. 8, in which a part of the container isomitted;

[0060]FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a method for preparing a main bodyfor the container of the first invention with the use of the laminate;

[0061]FIG. 11 is a view illustrating another method for preparing themain body for the container of the first invention with the use of thelaminate;

[0062]FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating the entirety of the laminateas shown in FIG. 7;

[0063]FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where thecontainer as shown in FIG. 8 is put into a cylinder of a fluiddischarging apparatus;

[0064]FIG. 14 is a side view illustrating another embodiment of thecontainer for fluid of the second invention;

[0065]FIG. 15 is a side view illustrating further another embodiment ofthe container for fluid of the second invention;

[0066]FIG. 16 is a side view illustrating an embodiment of a fluiddischarging gun serving as the fluid discharging apparatus of the thirdinvention;

[0067]FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of essential components of thefluid-discharging gun as shown in FIG. 16;

[0068]FIG. 18 is a side view illustrating an example of a fluiddispensing cartridge from which fluid can be discharged by means of thefluid discharging gun as shown in FIG. 16;

[0069]FIG. 19 is a side view illustrating another example of thefluid-dispensing cartridge, having a partial cross-sectional portion;

[0070]FIG. 20 is a side view illustrating further another example of thefluid-dispensing cartridge;

[0071]FIG. 21 is an enlarged view illustrating a zone defined by acircle “X” in FIG. 17;

[0072]FIG. 22 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a statewhere a nut serving as a piston of the fluid discharging gun comes intocontact with a projection of a pressing body;

[0073]FIG. 23 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a statewhere a disc-shaped member serving as the piston of the fluiddischarging gun comes into contact with a peripheral portion of a platemember of the pressing body;

[0074]FIG. 24 is a side view illustrating an embodiment of a fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention in a state where acylinder is in parallel with a pair of supporting arms;

[0075]FIG. 25 is a side view illustrating the embodiment of the fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention in a state where thecylinder is perpendicular to the supporting arms;

[0076]FIG. 26 is a view illustrating the embodiment of the fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention, which is viewed in adirection “X” in FIG. 25;

[0077]FIG. 27 is a side view illustrating the embodiment of the fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention in a state where the fluidis discharged from a fluid dispensing cartridge;

[0078]FIG. 28 is a side view illustrating the embodiment of the fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention in a state where thecylinder is moved rearward after the fluid received in the cartridge isused up;

[0079]FIG. 29 is a side view illustrating the embodiment of the fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention in a state where thecylinder is moved rearward and a nozzle supporting device is swung sothat the cartridge, the fluid of which has been used up, can locatebelow the supporting arms;

[0080]FIG. 30 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a portion ofthe supporting arms, the nozzle supporting device and a nozzle;

[0081]FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view cut along a line XXXI-XXXI inFIG. 24;

[0082]FIG. 32 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of thecartridge used in the embodiment as shown in FIGS. 24 to 31; and

[0083]FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another example ofthe cartridge used in the fluid discharging gun serving as the fluiddischarging apparatus of the fourth invention, which view has a partialcross-sectional portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0084] Now, embodiments of a plastic container of the first inventionwill be described in detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

[0085]FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the first invention, in whichits plastic container is used as a container for ground coffee beans orpowdery coffee (hereinafter referred to as the “coffee-container”). Thecoffee-container 10 is composed of a main body 11 that is formed of aplastic laminate film into a tubular shape, an upper-formed member 12that is integrally formed with the outer surface of one end of the mainbody 11 and a lower-formed member 13 that is integrally formed with theinner surface of the other end of the main body 11.

[0086] The upper-formed member 12 is formed into a tubular shape, whichis provided with an upper opening end having an inside diameter R1. Theupper-formed member 12 is provided on the outer surface of its upperportion with a threaded portion 14 and on the outer surface of its lowerportion with a grip portion 15. The upper opening end of theupper-formed member 12 is sealed with a cover member. A cap (not shown)is screwed on the threaded portion 14 of the upper-formed member 12.

[0087] The lower-formed member 13 is formed into a tubular shape with abottom having an outside diameter R2. The outside diameter R2 of thelower-formed member 13 is designed to be smaller than the insidediameter R1 of the upper-formed member 12. More specifically, theupper-formed member 12 serves as the large-diameter-formed member andthe lower-formed member 13 serves as the small-diameter-formed member.

[0088] The main body 11 has the tubular shape with the opposite openingends. It can be obtained by cutting a plastic laminate film into arectangular shape to form a sheet material and then joining the outersurface of one side edge of the thus formed sheet material with theinner surface of the other side edge thereof. For the preparation of themain body 11, there may be adopted a different process of joining theinner surface of the one side edge of the sheet material with the innersurface of the other side edge thereof (hereinafter referred to as the“first optional joining process”). There may be adopted anotherdifferent process of placing the outer surface of the one side edge ofthe sheet material with the inner surface of the other side edge thereofand joining them with the use of an adhesive tape applied from theinside of the main body (hereinafter referred to as the “second optionaljoining process”).

[0089] In view of an excellent moisture-proof property and an excellentgas isolating property, there may suitably be used as theabove-mentioned plastic laminate film (i) a laminate of a polyethylenefilm having a thickness of 70 μm, a polyester film having a thickness of12 μm, an aluminum foil having a thickness of 12 μm and a polyethylenefilm having a thickness of 70 μm, (ii) a laminate of a castpolypropylene having a thickness of 70 μm, a polyester film having athickness of 12 μm, an aluminum foil having a thickness of 12 μm and acast polypropylene having a thickness of 70 μm or (iii) a laminate of acast polypropylene having a thickness of 70 μm, a polyester film havinga thickness of 12 μm and a cast polypropylene having a thickness of 70μm.

[0090] When the aluminum film is substituted by a film ofethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer or a silica-deposited film, it ispossible to make the main body transparent, while maintaining theexcellent moisture-proof property and gas isolating property. Thecontents received in the container can visually be observed from theoutside thereof.

[0091] When the main body 11 for the coffee-container 10 is formed ofthe plastic laminate film including the aluminum foil, it is preferableto adopt the first or second optional joining process described above.When the contents to be received in the container is liquid such asfruit juice drink, which has a pH value of up to 4, it is preferable toadopt the second optional joining process for the formation of the mainbody 11 in order to prevent the aluminum foil from being oxidized tocause elution of aluminum in the liquid.

[0092] When the main body 11 for the coffee-container 10 is formed ofthe plastic laminate film including no aluminum foil, it is preferableto adopt the first or second optional joining process for the formationof the main body 11 in order to prevent the adhesive used in thelamination process from being eluted into the contents received in thecontainer.

[0093] Now, description will be given below of the method formanufacturing the coffee-container 10.

[0094] The moisture of ground coffee beans or powdery coffee should bedecreased as small as possible and the good aroma thereof should bemaintained. Accordingly, the coffee-container 10 is required to have theexcellent moisture-proof property and the excellent gas isolatingproperty. For these reasons, the plastic laminate film having theseexcellent properties is selected to be used for the formation of themain body 11 for the coffee-container 10.

[0095] A mold 20 for the formation of the coffee-container 10 has thefirst cavity 21 for forming the large-diameter-formed member and thesecond cavity 22 for forming the small-diameter-formed member as shownin FIG. 2. The first cavity 21 and the second cavity 22 are spaced fromeach other at a distance corresponding to the dimensions of the mainbody 11. The first cavity 21 has an inside diameter, which is largerthan the outside diameter of the second cavity 22. The first cavity 21of the mold has a shape corresponding to the upper-formed member 12 ofthe above-described coffee-container 10. The second cavity 22 of themold has a shape corresponding to the lower-formed member 13 thereof.The lower-formed member 13, which is formed by the second cavity 22, hasa bottom that provides the excellent moisture-proof property and theexcellent gas isolating property.

[0096] The main body 11 is formed into a tubular shape of the plasticlaminate film having the excellent moisture-proof property and theexcellent gas isolating property. The thus formed main tubular body 11is put on the outer surface of a mandrel 23, which serves as a core forthe mold. When the main tubular body 11 has a circular cross section,the mandrel 23 also has the corresponding circular cross section. Whenthe main tubular body 11 has a rectangular cross section, the mandrel 23also has, on the other hand, the corresponding rectangular crosssection.

[0097] Then, the mandrel 23 on which the main tubular body 11 has beenput, is placed in the mold 20 so that the end of the main tubular body11 locates inside the first cavity 21 and the other end thereof locatesoutside the second cavity 22. The mandrel 23, on which the main tubularbody 11 has been put, can smoothly be inserted into the mold 20 due tothe fact that the inside diameter of the first cavity 21 of the mold 20is larger than the outside diameter of the second cavity 22 thereof.

[0098] After the completion of the placement of the mandrel 23 on whichthe main tubular body 11 is put, in the mold 20, synthetic resinmaterial such as polyethylene resin is injected in a molten state intothe first cavity 21 and the second cavity 22 of the mold 20 from a gate25 formed therein through a runner 24 by means of an insert-injectionprocess. In this case, even when the lower end of the main tubular body11 reaches the bottom of the second cavity 22 ad shown in FIG. 3, aninjection pressure of the molten synthetic resin material is applied indirections that are indicated by arrows in FIG. 3 during theinsert-injection process. Consequently, wrinkles does not occur at theend of the main tubular body 11 or the end of the main tubular body 11is not turned up, irrespective of the injection pressure of the moltensynthetic resin material.

[0099] After the completion of a cooling process which is applied to themolten synthetic resin material injected into the first cavity 21 andthe second cavity 22, the formation of the coffee-container 10 in whichthe upper-formed member 12 is integrally formed with the outer surfaceof the end of the main tubular body 11 and the lower-formed member 13 isintegrally formed with the inner surface of the other end of the maintubular body 11.

[0100] The mandrel 23 placed in the mold 20 is pulled out after theformation of the coffee-container 10. It is possible to pull out easilythe mandrel 23 from the mold without being hindered by the upper-formedmember 13 due to the fact that the inside diameter of the first cavity21 of the mold 20 is larger than the outside diameter of the secondcavity 22 thereof.

[0101] In the above-described coffee-container 10, the lower-formedmember (i.e., the smaller-diameter-formed member) 13, which is joined tothe lower end of the main tubular body 11, locates on the inner surfaceof the main tubular body 11. As a result, it is possible to increase theeffective area, on which the printing is to be applied, by an areaoccupied by the smaller-diameter-formed member 13.

[0102] In the coffee-container 10 of the above-mentioned embodiment, theupper-formed member 12 is integrally formed with the outer surface ofthe end of the main body 11, which is formed into the tubular shape ofthe plastic laminate film, and the lower-formed member 13 is integrallyformed with the inner surface of the other end of the main body 11. Itis possible to form the coffee-container 10 in which the upper-formedmember 12 is integrally formed with the inner surface of the end of themain body 11, by changing the positional relationship between the mold20 and the mandrel 23 on the outer surface of which the main body 11 isput. According to such a coffee-container 10, it is possible to increasethe effective area, on which the printing is to be applied, by the totalarea occupied by the smaller-diameter-formed member 13 and thelarger-diameter-formed member 12.

[0103]FIGS. 4 and 5 show the other embodiment of the first invention.

[0104] In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, a suction line 31 is formedin the mandrel 30 on the outer surface of which the main tubular body 11is put. A laminate film 32 can be placed on the lower surface of themandrel 30 by a suction effect. It is therefore possible to join thelaminate film 32 integrally with the smaller-diameter-formed member 13by injecting the synthetic resin material such as polyethylene resin ina molten state into the smaller-diameter-formed member 13 by means ofthe insert-injection process.

[0105] There may suitably be used as the above-mentioned plasticlaminate film 32 (i) a laminate of a polyethylene film having athickness of 70 μm, a polyester film having a thickness of 12 μm, analuminum foil having a thickness of 12 μm and a polyethylene film havinga thickness of 70 μm, (ii) a laminate of a polyethylene film having athickness of 70 μm, a polyester film having a thickness of 12 μm, a filmof ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymer resins (i.e., “EVAL”(trademark)) having a thickness of 15 μm and a polyethylene film havinga thickness of 70 μm or (iii) a laminate of a polyethylene film having athickness of 70 μm, a polyester film having a thickness of 12 μm, analuminum foil having a thickness of 40 μm and a polyethylene film havinga thickness of 70 μm.

[0106] In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 5, a suction line 41 is formedin the mandrel 40 on the outer surface of which the main tubular body 11is put. A synthetic resin-formed body 42, which has previously beenformed, can be placed on the lower surface of the mandrel 40 by asuction effect. It is therefore possible to join the syntheticresin-formed body 42 integrally with the smaller-diameter-formed member13 by injecting the synthetic resin material such as polyethylene resinin a molten state into the smaller-diameter-formed member 13 by means ofthe insert-injection process.

[0107] The synthetic resin-formed body 42 can be obtained by subjectinga polyethylene film having a thickness of 70 μm, a polyester film havinga thickness of 12 μm, an aluminum foil having a thickness of 40 μm and apolyethylene film having a thickness of 7 μm to a press-forming process.When the plastic container is used as a container in which invasion ofoxygen should be avoided, it is preferable to form the syntheticresin-formed body 42 integrally with the small-diameter-formed member 13of the plastic container in this manner.

[0108] Now, embodiments of a container for fluid of the second inventionwill be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 15.

[0109] Description will be given below of one of the embodiments of thecontainer for fluid of the second invention with reference to FIGS. 7 to12. The container 51 for fluid of this embodiment is composed of a mainbody 60 having opposite opening ends, i.e., front and rear opening ends,and of a pair of closing devices, i.e., a front-bottom member 70 forclosing the front opening end of the main body 60 and a rear bottommember 80 for closing the rear opening end of the main body 60, as shownin FIGS. 8 and 9.

[0110] The main body 60 is formed of a laminate 61 into a tubular shape.The laminate 61 comprises a plurality of flexible films (in general, atleast three flexible films). The main body 60 tapers off from one end(i.e., the left-hand end in FIG. 8 (hereinafter referred to as the“front end”) to the other end (i.e., the right-hand end in FIG. 8(hereinafter referred to as the “rear end”). The main body 60 may have acylindrical shape having a constant diameter over its longitudinalentirety. The main body 60 can receive in its inside various fluid suchas adhesive, sealant, jam or the like.

[0111] The width of the laminate 61 becomes gradually smaller from thefront end to the rear end as shown in FIG. 12 in correspondence to thetapered main body 60. The main body 60 can be formed by joining onelongitudinal edge of the laminate 61 with the other longitudinal edgethereof as described later. The laminate 61 is composed of four films,i.e., the first to fourth films 62 to 65 as shown in FIG. 7, whichlocate from the outer peripheral side of the main body 60 toward theinner peripheral side thereof in this order.

[0112] When the container 51 is inserted into a cylinder C (see FIG. 13)of a fluid discharging gun or the other fluid discharging apparatus, thefirst film 62 comes into contact with the inner surface of the cylinderC. It is therefore preferable to use a film having an excellentscratching resistance and a small coefficient of friction, as the firstfilm 62. The resin film is generally used as the first film 62. In thiscase, it is preferable to use a transparent polyethylene film having athickness of from 30 μm to 60 μm. A cast polypropylene (CPP) film may beused.

[0113] The second film 63 is a resin film. Characters, devices, symbolsand the like can easily be printed on the surface (appearing on theouter peripheral side of the main body 60) of the above-mentioned resinfilm. In this embodiment, a polyester film having a thickness of from 12μm to 16 μm is used. A film of nylon or oriented polypropylene (OPP) maybe used alternatively. The transparent first film 62 permits thecharacters or the like printed on the surface of the second film 63 tobe observed visually from the outside of the main body 60.

[0114] The third film 64 has a function of imparting non-permeability tothe laminate 61. A metallic foil is usually used as the third film 64.With respect to the metallic film, it is preferable to use an aluminumfoil having a lightweight. The aluminum foil preferably has a thicknessof from 9 μm to 12 μm.

[0115] The fourth film 65 has a function of protecting the third film64, which is formed of the aluminum foil to prevent it from breakingduring the manufacturing process of the container 51. A resin film isusually used as the fourth film 65. There is no specific limitation ofmaterial for forming the fourth film 65. However, the same polyethylenefilm as the first film 62 is used in this embodiment in view of the factthat the main body 60 is formed of the laminate 61. These aspects willbe described later.

[0116] The second film 63 and the third film 64 are joined with eachother over their entire opposing surfaces by adhesive 90. The third film64 and the fourth film 65 are joined with each other in the same manner.The respective opposing portions of the first film 62 and the secondfilm 63 are merely joined with each other by adhesive 90 (the portionsof the first and second films 62, 63, which are joined with each otherby the adhesive, are hereinafter referred to as the “joined portions”91). The remaining portions of the first and second films 62, 63 otherthan the joined portions 91 are not joined with each other. As a result,the remaining portions of the first and second films 62, 63 other thanthe joined portions 91 can independently behave as the flexible film.Gaps having a height corresponding to the thickness of the adhesive 90are formed between the above-mentioned remaining portions of the firstand second films 62, 63. The supply of air into these gaps forms airlayers 66 between the first and second films 62, 63. These air layers 66have the advantage of improving an impact resistance of the main body60. The above-mentioned adhesion process for joining the first andsecond films 62 and 63 with each other may be substituted by a fusionbonding process.

[0117] The first to fourth films 62 to 65 are subjected to a laminationprocess to form the laminate 61. In this case, application of adhesiveonto at least one of the opposing surfaces of each set of the second andthird films 63, 64 and the third and fourth films 64, 65 over itsentirety may suffice prior to the lamination process. Application ofadhesive onto a portion of at least one of the opposing surfaces of thefirst and second films 62 and 63, in which portion the joined portion 91is to be formed, may suffice on the other hand.

[0118] The laminate 61 having the above-mentioned structure is wound upinto a roll as shown in FIG. 10 and one edge 61 a of the laminate 61 isplaced on the other edge 61 b thereof. The inner surface of the one edge61 a of the laminate (i.e., the inner surface of the first film 62) andthe outer surface of the other edge 61 b thereof (i.e., the outersurface of the fourth film 65) are jointed with each other by means ofadhesive. The formation of the main body 60 is completed in this manner.The same kind of material is used for forming the first and fourth films62 and 65 in order to improve the adhesive strength of the opposite edgeportions 61 a, 61 b.

[0119] The main body 60 may be formed by bending the opposite edgeportions 61 a, 61 b of the laminate 61 so as to cause them to projectoutward in the diametrical direction of the main body 60 and joining theopposite edge portions 61 a, 61 b (on the inner surface of the fourthfilm 65) with each other by means of adhesive. In such a case, thejoined portions 61 a, 61 b, which project outward, are pushed down inany one of directions, which are indicated by arrows in FIG. 11, andjoined onto the outer surface of the main body 60 by means of adhesive.As a result, the joined portions of the main body 60 have a largerthickness than the remaining portion. In view of this fact, it ispreferable to form the main body 60 in the manner as shown in FIG. 10.In the main body 60 as shown in FIG. 11 the opposite edge portions ofthe same film, i.e., the fourth film 65 are joined with each other.Consequently, the formation of the first film 62 of the differentmaterial from that of the fourth film 65 will cause no problem.

[0120] The other joining process may be adopted to form the main body 60of the laminate 61. Provided that a sufficient adhesive strength can beensured, the opposite edges of the laminate 61 may be butted togetherand joined with each other by mean of adhesive. In any one of theabove-described joining processes, the adhesive joining may besubstituted by a fusion bonding joining.

[0121] The front-bottom member 70 is formed of resin having a relativelyhigh hardness. The front-bottom member 70 has a disc-shaped portion 71.The disc-shaped portion 71 is provided on its outer periphery with atubular portion 72 having a dual-tubular structure. The inside diameterof the outer tube of the tubular portion 72 is substantially identicalto the outside diameter of the front-end portion of the main body 60.The front-end portion of the main body 60 is fitted into the innersurface of the outer tube of the tubular portion 72 so as to be joinedthereto by means of adhesive. The front opening end of the main body 60is closed in this manner. There may be adopted a structure in which thefront end portion of the main body 60 is fitted into the outer surfaceof the tubular portion 72 so as to be joined thereto by means ofadhesive.

[0122] The disc-shaped portion 71 has on its central portion aprojection 73, which projects outward in the opposite direction to themain body 60. The projection 73 has a hole 74, which passes through thecentral portion of the projection 73. A sealing film 75 is provided onthe surface of the disc-shaped portion 71, which faces the main body 60,so as to close the hole 74. The sealing film 75 has a function ofpreventing fluid received in the main body 60 from leaking out.

[0123] The rear-bottom member 80 has a disc-shaped portion 81. Thedisc-shaped portion 81 is provided on its outer periphery with a tubularportion 82, which projects toward the main body 60. The inside diameterof the tubular portion 82 is substantially identical to the outsidediameter of the rear end portion of the main body 60. The rear endportion of the main body 60 is fitted into the inner surface of thetubular portion 82 so as to be joined thereto by means of adhesive.There may be adopted a structure in which the rear end portion of themain body 60 is fitted into the outer surface of the tubular portion 82so as to be joined thereto by means of adhesive.

[0124]FIG. 12 shows the laminate 61 in an expanded state. Portions wherethe joined portions 91 are formed are shown by cross-hatching in FIG.12. As is clear from the figure, the joined portions 91 is composed of(i) portions that are formed so as to extend on the entire periphery ofthe front and rear ends of the main body 60, which is formed of thelaminate 61, (ii) a portion that is formed so as to extend from thefront end of the laminate 61 to the rear end thereof along thehorizontal line, which passes through the center of the laminate 61, and(iii) portions (in this embodiment, three portions) that are formed soas to extend from the longitudinal upper edge of the laminate 61 to thelongitudinal lower edge thereof at regular intervals.

[0125] When the main body 60 is formed by winding up the laminate 61into a roll so as to place its longitudinal edge (i.e., the one edge 61a as shown in FIG. 10) on the other longitudinal edge (i.e., the otheredge 61 b as shown in FIG. 10), there are formed the joined portions 91that have circular-shaped glued (joined) portions 92 circumferentiallyextending on the main body 60 and longitudinal glued joined) portions 93extending from the front end of the main body 60 to the rear end thereofin its longitudinal direction. The circular-shaped glued portions 92 areformed on the front and rear ends of the main body and the middleportion thereof so as to provide the total number of five. Thelongitudinal edge of the laminate 61 is glued onto the otherlongitudinal edge thereof, with the result that the two longitudinalglued portions 93 are formed on the periphery of the main body 60 so asto separate from each other by the central angle of 180 degrees of themain body 60.

[0126] Portions of the laminate 61 other than the circular-shaped gluedportions 92 and the longitudinal glued portions 93 (i.e., the portionssurrounded by the circular-shaped glued portions 92 and the longitudinalglued portions 93 are remained as non-glued portions (i.e., non-joinedportions) 94 in which the first film 62 and the second film 63 are notglued to each other. In these non-glued portions 94, the first andsecond films 62 and 63 can independently behave as the flexible film.

[0127] Now, description will be given below with reference to FIG. 13 ofhow to use the container 51 for fluid having the above-describedstructure. First, the sealing film 75 is broken and the nozzle N isfitted into the outer periphery of the projection 73 of the disc-shapedportion 71. It is easy to break the sealing film 75 with the use of thetip end of the nozzle N. Then, the container 51 is inserted into thecylinder C of a fluid discharging gun or the other fluid dischargingapparatus. When a rod R pushes a pressing plate (i.e., a pressing body)B through the piston P, the main body 60 of the container 51 is squeezedso that its rear portion deforms into a bellows-shape. Consequently, thefluid received in the container 51 is discharged from the front openingend of the nozzle N.

[0128] The major portions of the first and second films 62 and 63 arenot glued to each other so that these films can independently behave asthe flexible film. As a result, the first film 62 serves as the separatetubular body, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent ProvisionalPublication No. S56-51,265, i.e., as the tubular body into which thecontainer is to be inserted. It is therefore possible to prevent thelaminate 61 forming the main body 60 from being caught between the innersurface of the cylinder and the outer peripheral surface of the pressingplate B. It is unnecessary to use, unlike the prior art disclosed inJapanese Patent Provisional Publication No. S56-51,265, the separatetubular body into which the container 51 is to be inserted, thus savingthe labor accordingly and leading to a decreased amount of wastes due tono use of the separate tubular body.

[0129] The circular shaped glued (joined) portion 92 formed at the rearend of the main body 60 makes it possible to prevent more surely theoccurrence of the above-mentioned catching problem of the laminate 61.

[0130] More specifically, the portions of the laminate 61, whichcorrespond to the circular shaped glued portions 92 have a largerstrength (i.e., a more excellent tenacious property) than that of thenon-glued portions 94 in which the first and second films 62 and 63 arenot glued to each other. Accordingly, when the pressing plate B pressesthe rear bottom member 80 of the container 51, the laminate 61 candeform inward at the boundary between the circular shaped glued portion92, which is formed at the rearmost side of the main body 60, and thenon-glued portion 94, which is in the vicinity of the above-mentionedcircular shaped glued portion 92. As a result, the main body 60 cansurely be squeezed to deform into the bellows-shape along with theadvance of the pressing plate B. It is therefore possible to preventmore surely the occurrence of the catching problem of the laminate 61.

[0131] An experiment was made to recognize the effect of preventing theoccurrence of the catching problem of the laminate 61. Containers 51 ofthe present invention having the above-described structure. Thecomparative container had the same structure as that of the container 51of the present invention except that the opposing surfaces of the firstand second films 62 and 63 are glued to each other over its entirety. Adischarging test of fluid was carried out for each of ten containers ofthe present invention and each of ten comparative containers with theuse of the same fluid discharging apparatus. In any one of thecontainers of the present invention, there was observed no occurrence ofthe catching problem of the laminate 61. On the contrary, in all of theten comparative containers, the catching problem of the laminateoccurred. In one of the comparative containers, it became impossible tomove the pressing plate B during the discharging operation so that thedischarging operation could not be completed.

[0132] Description will be given below of the other embodiments of thecontainer of the second invention as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. Onlyconstructional components of the other embodiments of the secondinvention, which are different from those of the first embodiment of thesecond invention, will be described. The same reference numerals asthose of the first embodiment of the second invention are given to thesame constructional components and description of them is omitted.

[0133] The container 2 for fluid of the embodiment of the secondinvention as shown in FIG. 14 comprises a straight portion 60A and atapered portion 60B. The straight portion 60A locates on the front sideof the main body 60 and has a constant outside diameter and a lengthcorresponding to the distance from two third to three fourth of thetotal length of the main body 60. The tapered portion 60B tapers off toits rear shape described above, the catching problem of the laminate mayeasily occur at the boundary between the straight portion 60A and thetapered portion 60B. In view of this fact, the circular-shaped glued(joined) portion 92 is formed at the above-mentioned boundary. In thisembodiment, the circular-shaped glued portion 92 is formed at the rearend of the straight portion 60A. The circular-shaped glued portion 92may be formed at the front end of the tapered portion 60B. Thecircular-shaped glued portion 92 may extend from the rear end of thestraight portion 60A to the front end of the tapered portion 60B. Inaddition to the above-mentioned circular-shaped glued portion 92, or inreplacement thereof, the same circular-shaped glued portions 92 and thelongitudinal glued portions 93 of the first embodiment of the secondinvention may be formed.

[0134] In the container 53 of the embodiment of the second invention asshown in FIG. 15, the opposite opening ends of the main body 60 arenarrowed and closed by thick wires 100, 100 serving as the closingdevice, respectively. A circular-shaped glued joined) portion is formedon each of the opposite ends and the center of a cylindrical portion ofthe main body 60, which has a constant diameter, except for the oppositenarrowed portions. In this embodiment, longitudinal glued joined)portions may be formed so as to extend horizontally between the adjacentcircular-shaped glued portions 92, 92.

[0135] The second invention is not limited only to the above-describedembodiments and includes further modified embodiments. The containers ofthe above-described embodiments have at least one circular-shaped gluedportions 92. The containers may have no circular-shaped glued portionand have at least one longitudinal glued portion. It is howeverpreferable to form on the entire periphery of the laminate 61 a glued(joined) portion 91 by which the circular-shaped glued portions providedon the opposite ends of the main body 60 and the at least onelongitudinal glued portion are formed. When the glued portion 91 isformed on the entire periphery of the laminate 61 so as to have arectangular closed configuration in this manner, it is possible toprevent the edge portions of the first and second films 62 and 63 frompeeling off during the step of winding up the laminate 61 into a roll toform the main body 60. As a result, these films 62 and 63 can be handledas a single united member, thus leading to an easy manufacture of themain body 60.

[0136] A glued (joined) portion may be formed in a spiral shape inreplacement of the circular-shaped glued portions 92 and thelongitudinal glued portion 93. In addition to such a spiral-shaped gluedportion, the circular-shaped glued portions may be formed on theopposite ends of the main body.

[0137] In the above-described embodiments of the second invention, thenon-glued portions are formed between the second film 63 and the firstfilm 62 locating in the outermost position of the main body. Thenon-glued portions 94 may be formed between the other adjacent twofilms.

[0138] There may be adopted a structure in which an additional filmformed of the same material as that of the first film is providedbetween the first film 62 and the second film 63, the additional film isglued on the entire surface of the second film 63 and the glued portions91 and the non-glued portions 94 are formed between the additional filmand the first film 62. Such a structure makes it possible to improve thestrength of the main body 60.

[0139] Now, embodiments of a fluid discharging apparatus of the thirdinvention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 16to 23.

[0140]FIG. 16 illustrates a fluid-discharging gun 111 as an embodimentof the fluid discharging apparatus of the third invention. The fluiddischarging gun 111 has a main body 121. The main body 121 has a lever122, which is provided thereon so as to be swingable. The swing motionof the lever 122 in the direction of an arrow A as shown in FIG. 16advances a rod 123 and a piston 124 provided at the end of the rod 123(i.e., moves them in the left-hand direction in FIG. 16). It is possibleto cause the rod 123 and the piston 124, which have been in an advancedstate, to retreat by swinging a holding lever 125 in the direction of anarrow B as shown in FIG. 16. The main body 121 is provided on its frontedge with a supporting member 126, which is in parallel with the rod123. The supporting member 126 is formed into a semi-circular tubehaving an upper opening, which extends in the longitudinal direction.The supporting member 126 has a stopper plate 127 having a horseshoeshape, which is fixed to the front edge of the supporting member 126.

[0141]FIG. 17 is a view illustrating a state in which an installationapparatus for a fluid dispensing cartridge (hereinafter referred to asthe “cartridge installation apparatus”) is fitted to the fluiddischarging gun 111 described above. The cartridge installationapparatus 112 is composed of a receiving tube 131 having a tubular shapewith opposite opening ends and of a pressing body 132, which is providedin the inside of the receiving tube 131 so as to be slidable. When thecartridge installation apparatus 112 is fitted to the fluid discharginggun 111, the pressing body 132 is located at the one end side of thereceiving tube 131 and the receiving tube 131 is placed on thesupporting member 126 so that the one end of the receiving tube 131faces the piston 124.

[0142]FIG. 18 is a view illustrating the fluid-dispensing cartridge(hereinafter simply referred to as the “cartridge”) 113 that is to befitted to the fluid discharging gun 111 through the above-mentionedcartridge installation apparatus. The cartridge 113 is obtained byforming a reinforcement tube 142 on the outer periphery of the openingend of a tube 141 formed of a single thin film or a plurality of thinfilms and forming a bottom 143 at the other opening end of the tube 141to obtain a cartridge body, filling the cartridge body with fluid suchas adhesive or the like and closing the opening end of the tube 141 witha plug member 144. The plug member 144 has a discharge port 144 a, whichis closed by a sealing sheet 145. In the cartridge 113 of thisembodiment, the tube 141 tapers off from the plug member 144 to thebottom 143. The tube 141 may have a constant outside diameter over itslongitudinal entirety.

[0143] When fluid is discharged from the cartridge 113 with the use ofthe fluid discharging gun 111, a nozzle 114 is fitted to the plug member144 as shown in FIG. 18. The nozzle 114 has a sharp point 114 a, whichcan break the sealing sheet 145 so as to permit the fluid received inthe cartridge 113 to flow from the discharge port 144 a into the nozzle114. Then, the cartridge 113 is inserted from its bottom 143 side intothe receiving tube 131 of the cartridge installation apparatus 112 asshown in FIG. 17. Then, the nozzle 114 passes through the stopper plate127, thus completing the fitting step of the cartridge installationapparatus 112 to the fluid-discharging gun 111. After the completion ofthe fitting step mentioned above, the piston 124 advanced pushes thecartridge 113 through the pressing body 132. Consequently, the tube 141is gradually squeezed from the bottom 141 side. The fluid received inthe cartridge 113 is discharged from the nozzle 114 in this manner.

[0144] The cartridge 113 as shown in FIG. 18 may be substituted by theother cartridge 113′ or 113″ as shown in FIG. 19 or 20.

[0145] The cartridge 113′ as shown in FIG. 19 has a structure in which anozzle 114′ having a closed tip end is screwed onto the discharge port144 a of the plug member 144 and the other opening end is narrowed andclosed by a fastener 146 in replacement of the bottom 143. When thecartridge 113′ is used, a cutter cuts off the tip end of the nozzle114′.

[0146] The cartridge 113″ as shown in FIG. 20 has a structure in whichthe opposite opening ends of the tube 141 are narrowed and closed byfasteners 146, 146, respectively. When the cartridge 113″ is used, theone end of the tube 141 is cut to be opened and then the tube 141 isinserted into the receiving tube 131 of the cartridge installationapparatus 112. The nozzle is fitted into the opening end of thereceiving tube 131, which locates in the one end of the tube 141, whichhas been cut off. Then, the cartridge installation apparatus 112 isfitted to the fluid discharging gun 111.

[0147] The fluid discharging gun 111 and the cartridge installationapparatus 112 has features described below that can prevent the thinfilm, of which the cartridge 113 (113′, 113″) is formed, from beingcaught between the inner peripheral surface of the receiving tube 131and the outer peripheral surface of the pressing body 132.

[0148] First, description of the fluid discharging gun 111 will be givenbelow. The above-mentioned piston 124 is composed of a disc-shapedmember 128 and a pair of nuts 129 a, 129 b. The disc-shaped member 128has a base plate 128 a having a circular disc-shape, a tapered portion128 b extending forward from the periphery of the base plate 128 a sothat the outside diameter of the tapered portion 128 b becomes graduallylarger, and a ring-shaped portion 128 c, which is integrally formed withthe periphery of the tapered portion 128 b so as to be in parallel withthe base plate 128 a. The rod 123 passes through the central portion ofthe base plate 128 a. The nuts 129 a, 129 b locate on the opposite sidesof the disc-shaped member 128, respectively, and engage with thefront-end portion of the rod 123. The disc-shaped member 128 is fixed tothe rod 123 by fastening the nuts 129 a, 129 b so as to held thedisc-shaped member 128 between them.

[0149] The depth of the disc-shaped member 128, i.e., the distance “L”from the front surface of the ring-shaped portion 128 c to the frontsurface of the base plate 128 a is previously determined to be largerthan the thickness of the nut 129 a locating in the front side of thedisc-shaped member 128, i.e., the distance “t” between the oppositesurfaces of the nut 129 a in its longitudinal direction. Accordingly,the front surface of the ring-shaped portion 128 c of the disc-shapedmember 128 locates in a position where is apart in the forward directionfrom the front surface of the nut 129 a by the distance (L−t) Thedistance (L−t) can be changed by substituting the nut 129 a with theother nut having the different thickness.

[0150] In the cartridge installation apparatus 112, the pressing body132 has a feature by which the catching problem of the film can besolved. More specifically, the pressing body 132 is formed of resin. Thepressing body 132 is composed of a tubular member 132 a formed into ashort tube and of a plate member 132 b, which is integrally formed withthe inner surface of the tubular member 132 a and has a circular shape,as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22. The tubular member 132 a is composed of anintermediate portion and a pair of ring-shaped projection portions 132 cformed at the opposite edges of the intermediate portion. Theintermediate portion has an outside diameter, which is smaller than theinside diameter of the receiving tube 131. Each of the projectionportions 132 c has an outside diameter, which is slightly larger thanthe inside diameter of the receiving tube 131. The projection portions132 c come into contact with the inner surface of the receiving tube 131under a prescribed pressure. On the contrary, the intermediate portionof the tubular member 132 a does not come into contact with thereceiving tube 131. Such a structure makes it possible to increase thecontact pressure of the projection portions 132 c with the receivingtube 131.

[0151] The tubular member 132 a has an inside diameter, which is largerthan the outside diameter of the disc-shaped member 128 of the piston124. Accordingly, the piston 124 can move forward to locate in thetubular member 132 a so as to come into contact with the plate member132 b without coming into contact with the tubular member 132 a. Theplate member 132 b has a projection 132 d formed on the central portionof the plate member 132 b. The projecting length “H” of the projection132 d is previously determined so as to satisfy the following formula:

H>(L−t)

[0152] Accordingly, when the piston moves forward, the nut 129 a of thepiston 124 first comes into contact with the projection 132 d of theplate member 132 b. In this state, the ring-shaped portion 128 c of thedisc-shaped member 128 locates in a position where is apart in therearward direction from the back surface of the plate member 132 b bythe distance “d=H−(L−t).

[0153] The plate member 132 b has a thickness, which is smaller than thelength of the tubular member 132 a in its longitudinal direction. Theplate member 132 b is designed so that, when the nut 129 a pressesforward the central portion of the plate member 132 b, the pressedsurface of the plate member 132 b becomes concave and the oppositesurface thereof becomes convex, with the result that the plate member132 b elastically deforms into a curved shape over its entirety. Theplate member 132 b locates in the central portion of the tubular member132 a in its longitudinal direction. When the plate member 132 belastically deforms into the curved shape, the tubular member 132 a alsoelastically deforms so that the outside diameter of the projectionportion 132 c locating in the front side in the longitudinal directionof the tubular member 132 a (hereinafter referred to as the “front-sideprojection portion 132 c”) increases and the outside diameter of theprojection portion 132 c locating in the rear side in the longitudinaldirection thereof decreases. The expansion of the front-side projectionportion 132 c is however limited by the receiving tube 131. Neitherexpansion nor contraction of the projection portions 132 c does notactually occur and alternatively the contact pressure of the front-sideprojection portion 132 c with the receiving tube 131 increases inaccordance with a rate of increase in outside diameter of the front-sideprojection portion 132 c.

[0154] The elastic deformation of the plate member 132 b into the curvedshape causes the projection 132 d to be displaced forward relative tothe periphery of the plate member 132 b. As a result, the ring-shapedportion 128 c of the disc-shaped member 128 comes close to theperipheral portion of the plate member 132 b. When the displacement δsatisfies the following formula:

δ=H−(L−t)

[0155] the ring-shaped portion 128 c of the disc-shaped member 128 comesinto contact with the peripheral portion of the plate member 132 b.After the ring-shaped portion 128 c comes into contact with theperipheral portion of the plate member 132 b, almost no furtherdeformation of the plate member 132 b occurs, even when the pressingforce of the piston 124 against the plate member 132 b is furtherincreased. As a result, it is possible to prevent the contact pressureof the front-side projection portion 132 c with the receiving tube 131from increasing further, so as to be maintained in the prescribed range.

[0156] In this embodiment of the third invention, the nut 129 a servesas a central pressing portion and the disc-shaped member 128 serves as aperipheral pressing portion.

[0157] The inside diameter of the tubular member 132 a is slightlylarger than the outside diameter of the bottom 143 of the cartridge 113.When the pressing body 132 presses the bottom 143 of the cartridge 113,the bottom 143 comes into the tubular member 132 a so that theprojection 132 d can press the central portion of the bottom 143. Theremay be adopted a structure in which the end surface of the tubularmember 132 a presses the bottom 143 of the cartridge 113.

[0158] In the fluid discharging apparatus 111 of this embodiment, thenut 129 a presses the projection 132 d formed on the central portion ofthe plate member 132 b of the pressing body 132 to deform elasticallythe plate member 132 b. Consequently, it is possible to bring theprojection portion 132 c, which locates in the front side in the movingdirection of the piston 124 (i.e., the front-side projection portion 132c), into contact with the inner surface of the receiving tube 131 underthe high pressure. It is therefore possible to prevent the film, ofwhich the tube 141 of the cartridge 113 is formed, from being caughtbetween the front-side projection portion 132 c and the receiving tube131. The elastic deformation of the plate member 132 b and the tubularmember 132 a increases the pressure by which the projection portion 132c is pressed against the receiving tube 131. Even when a slight wear ofthe projection portion 132 c occurs, there is almost no decrease incontact pressure of the projection portion 132 c with the receiving tube131. When a severe wear of the projection portion 132 c occurs, increasein the elastic deformation limit of the plate member 132 b makes itpossible to maintain the high contact pressure of the projection portion132 c with the receiving tube 131. As a result, the high contactpressure of the projection portion 132 c with the receiving tube 131 canbe maintained for a long time of period. It is therefore possible toprevent the catching problem of the film from occurring for a longperiod of time.

[0159] The contact pressure of the front-side projection portion 132 cwith the receiving tube 131 can be determined in correspondence to theelastic deformation of the plate member 132 b. The elastic deformationof the plate member 132 b can be determined by the deviation “d”, i.e.,the distance between the front surface of the nut 129 a, which is tocome into contact with the projection 132 d of the pressing body 132,and the front surface of the ring-shaped portion 128 c of thedisc-shaped member 128, which is to come into contact with the platemember 132 b of the pressing body 132. It is therefore possible toadjust the contact pressure of the front-side projection portion 132 cwith the receiving tube 131 by changing the thickness of the nut 129 a.In view of this fact, the use of the nut 129 a having a large thicknesssuffices when a small wear of the front-side projection portion 132 c isobserved. The nut 129 a is changed to the other nut having a largerthickness in accordance with an amount of wear of the front-sideprojection portion 132 c. Such a system makes it possible to maintainthe almost constant high contact pressure of the projection portion 132c with the receiving tube 131 for a long period of time.

[0160] In the cartridge installation apparatus 112 of the thirdinvention, the projection 132 d is formed on each of the oppositesurfaces of the plate member 132 b. After the pressing body 132 moves inthe left-hand direction in FIG. 17 until the fluid received in thecartridge 113 (113′, 113″) is used up, the cartridge 113 is removed fromthe left-hand opening of the receiving tube 131. Then, a new cartridgeis inserted into the receiving tube 131 from its right-hand opening. Thereceiving tube 131 with the new cartridge is turned over and put intothe fluid-discharging gun 111. In this case, the piston 124 presses theprojection 132 d, which locates in the rear side in FIGS. 17 and 21, andthe projection portion 132 c locating in the rear side in FIGS. 17 and21 is located in the front side in the moving direction of the piston124 so as to come into contact with the inner surface of the receivingtube 131 under high pressure. The service life of the pressing body 132can be increased twice.

[0161] The third invention is not limited only to the above-describedembodiments and includes further modified embodiments.

[0162] In the above-described embodiments of the third invention, thepiston 124 is composed of the disc-shaped member 128 and the pair ofnuts 129 a, 129 b. The disc-shaped member 128 may be used as the pistonand the rod 123 may be formed integrally with the disc-shaped member 238or fixed thereto. There may be adopted a structure in which the rod 123is provided with a flange in replacement of the nut 129 b, the nut 129 ais formed integrally with the disc-shaped member 128 and theabove-mentioned rod 123 is screwed into the nut 129 a to bring thedisc-shaped member 128 into contact with the flange. In theabove-described embodiments, the nut 129 a can come into contact withthe projection 132 d of the pressing body 132. When the tip end of therod 123 projects from the nut 129 a, the projected tip end of the rod123 may come into contact with the above-mentioned projection 132 d. Inthis case, the tip end of the rod 123 serves as the central pressingportion of the piston 124.

[0163] Now, embodiments of a fluid discharging apparatus of the fourthinvention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 24to 33.

[0164] In the embodiment, the fourth invention is applied to a fluiddischarging gun (a fluid discharging apparatus) 151 as shown in FIGS. 24to 29. A fluid dispensing cartridge (hereinafter simply referred to asthe “cartridge”) 250 as shown in FIG. 32 is used for the fluiddischarging gun 151. The fourth invention may be applied to the otherkind of fluid discharging apparatus than the fluid discharging gun 151.The other kind of cartridge than the cartridge 250, for example acartridge 350 as shown in FIG. 33 may be used.

[0165] First, the cartridge 250 will be described below for convenience.The cartridge 250 is composed of a main body 260, a reinforcement tube270 and a bottom 280. The main body 260 is formed of a single thin filmor a plurality of thin films into a tubular shape. The reinforcementtube 270 is provided on the outer periphery of the front opening end ofthe main body 260. The bottom 280 closes the rear-opening end of themain body 260. The main body 260 tapers off from its front end to itsrear end. The main body 260 may have a constant outside diameter overits longitudinal entirety. The reinforcement tube 270 has in its centralportion a discharge port 271. The inside diameter of the discharge port271 becomes gradually smaller from the front end of the discharge port271 to the rear end thereof. The rear-opening end of the discharge port271 is closed by means of a sealing member 272, which is formed of athin film. The sealing member 272 may be broken by mean of a tubularinsertion member 213 of a nozzle 156, which is to be fitted into thedischarge port 271, described later. As a result, fluid such as adhesiveor the like received in the cartridge 250 can be discharged outside fromthe discharge port 271 through the nozzle 156.

[0166] Then, description will be given below of the fluid-discharginggun 151 for discharging the fluid from the above-mentioned cartridge250. The fluid discharging gun 151 has a main body 152 as shown in FIGS.24 to 27. The main body 152 is provided with a grip portion 171 and anoperation lever 172. A swing motion of the operation lever 172 in thedirection of an arrow A as shown in FIG. 24 causes a rod 173 to moveforward in accordance with the swing motion, with the result that apiston 173 provided at the tip end of the rod 173 also moves forward.When the grip of the operation lever 172 is released, the operationlever 172 is returned to the original position by means of a spring 174.The repetition of the gripping operation of the operation lever 172 andthe release thereof causes the rod 173 and the piston 153 to moveforward. It is possible to cause the rod 173 and the piston 153, whichhave been in an advanced state, to retreat by swinging a holding lever175 in the direction of an arrow B as shown in FIG. 16 against anexpansive force given by a spring 176. The fluid-discharging gun 152 ofthe fourth invention has the same fundamental structural components asthose of the conventional fluid-discharging gun. The detaileddescription thereof is therefore omitted.

[0167] The main body 152 is provided with a supporting plate 177 havinga circular shape. The above-mentioned rod 173 passes through the centralportion of the supporting plate 177. The supporting plate 177 isrotatable around its central axis relative to the main body 152. Thefrictional resistance between the supporting plate 177 and the main body152 prevents the supporting plate 177 from rotating freely. Thesupporting plate 177 can be held in a predetermined rotational position.A pair of supporting arms 154, 154 are fixed at their root ends to theouter periphery of the supporting plate 177 so as to be spaced apartfrom each other by a rotational angle of 180 degrees. The distancebetween the rod 173 and each of the supporting arms 154, 154 is keptconstant. Each of the supporting arms 154, 154 extends in thelongitudinal direction of the rod 173 (i.e., the moving direction of thepiston 153).

[0168] A nozzle-supporting member 155 (i.e., a nozzle-supporting device)is provided at the front ends of the supporting arms 154, 154. Thenozzle supporting member 155 is composed of an end-plate portion 201having a circular shape and of a supporting tubular portion 202, whichis formed into a semi-circular tube on the rear surface of the end-plateportion 201, as shown in FIG. 30. The supporting tubular portion 202 isprovided on the opposite sides of its outer surface with pivot axisportions 203, 203 each having a square cross-section (Note: The only onepivot axis portion 203 being shown in FIG. 30). The pivot axis portions203, 203 are inserted into elongated holes 191, 191 (Note: The only oneelongated hole 191 is shown in FIG. 30), which are formed at the frontends of the supporting arms 154, 154, respectively. Each of theelongated holes 191, 191 extends in the longitudinal direction of thesupporting arms 154, 154. The front end of each of the elongated holes191, 191 has the same width as that of each of the pivot axis portions203, 203. The rear end of each of the elongated holes 191, 191 is formedinto a circular shape having a diameter, which is substantiallyidentical to the length of the diagonal line of the pivot axis portion203. As a result, the pivot axis portion 203 is movable in the elongatedhole 191 in its longitudinal direction and becomes non-rotatablerelative to the supporting arm 154 when being located in the front endof the elongated hole 191, and becomes, on the other hand, rotatablethereto when being located in the rear circular end of the elongatedhole 191. When the nozzle supporting member 155 moves forward within aprescribed range, which is determined by the length of the elongatedhole 191, it becomes non rotatable relative to the supporting arms 154,154. When the nozzle-supporting member 155 moves rearward, it becomes,on the contrary, rotatable relative to the supporting arms 154, 154.

[0169] A nozzle 156 is detachably mounted on the nozzle-supportingmember 155. The nozzle 156 is composed of (i) a nozzle portion 211tapering off to its tip end, (ii) a flange portion 212, which is formedinto a circular shape on the rear end of the nozzle portion 211 and(iii) a tubular insertion portion 213, which is formed on the rear endsurface of the flange portion 212. The nozzle portion 211, the flangeportion 212 and the tubular insertion portion 213 are coaxial to eachother. The nozzle portion 211 and the tubular insertion portion 213communicate with each other. The end-plate portion 201 of the nozzlesupporting member 155 has an insertion groove 204, which opens in theperpendicular direction to the straight line connecting the pair ofsupporting arms 154, 154 with each other. The supporting tubular portion202 is provided on its inner peripheral surface with a projection 205having an arcuate shape. The space defined by the arcuate projection 205opens in the same direction as the opening direction of the insertiongroove 204. The root end of the nozzle portion 211 can be inserted intothe insertion groove 204 from the opening end thereof. The flangeportion 212 can be inserted into a space between the end-plate portion201 and the projection 205. The nozzle 156 can detachably be mounted onthe nozzle-supporting member 155 in this manner.

[0170] When the fluid discharging gun 151 is used exclusively for thecartridge 250, the nozzle 156 may be fixed to or formed integrally withthe nozzle-supporting member 155.

[0171] The outside diameter of the tubular insertion portion 213 of thenozzle 156 is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the front endof the discharge port 271 of the cartridge 250, but is substantiallyidentical to or slightly larger than the inside diameter of the rear endof the discharge port 271 thereof. As a result, the tubular insertionportion 213 can be fitted into the rear end of the discharge port 271 ofthe cartridge 250 in a pressing-in manner. There occurs no leakage offluid received in the cartridge 250 between the inner peripheral surfaceof the discharge port 271 and the outer peripheral surface of thetubular insertion portion 213. The fitting of the tubular insertionportion 213 into the discharge port 271 of the cartridge 250 causes thenozzle 156 and the cartridge 250 to be connected with each other under aprescribed frictional resistance. The tubular insertion portion 213 hasthe rear end with an obliquely cut end. The dimensions of the tubularinsertion portion 213 are previously determined so that, when thetubular insertion portion 213 is inserted into the discharge port 271until the flange portion 212 comes into contact with the reinforcementtube 270, a portion on the obliquely cut end, which is the furthestpoint from the flange portion 212, projects in the main body 260 of thecartridge 250 through the rear opening end of the discharge port 271 andthe other portion on the obliquely cut end, which is the nearest pointfrom the flange portion 212, remains in the discharge port 271. As aresult, when the tubular insertion portion 213 is inserted into thedischarge port 271 of the cartridge 250, the sealing member 272 isbroken by means of the tubular insertion portion 213 so as not to formany cut piece of the sealing member 272, which is separated from theremaining portion thereof. If the sealing member 272 is broken by meansthe tubular insertion portion 213 to form a circular cut piece of thesealing member 272, which is separated from the remaining portionthereof, the cut piece may enter the nozzle 156 to cause the cloggingthereof. In the fourth invention, the sealing member 272 can be brokenby cutting it partially along a non-closed cutting line.

[0172] A cylinder 157 is disposed between the pair of supporting arms154, 154 in their middle portions in the longitudinal direction. Thecylinder 157 is formed into a tubular shape having a constant diameterover its entire length. The inside diameter of the cylinder 157 issubstantially identical with the outside diameter of the front end ofthe main body 260, i.e., the maximum outside diameter of the main body260. Consequently, the main body 260 of the cartridge 250 can beinserted into the cylinder 157 from its rear end until the reinforcementtube 270 comes into contact with the end of the cylinder 157.

[0173] The cylinder 157 is supported on the pair of supporting arms 154,154 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction thereof andswingable. As shown in FIGS. 24 to 29, and 31, a pair of reinforcementmembers 221, 221 each having a relatively large thickness are providedon the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder 157 so as to be spacedapart from each other by the central angle of 180 degrees. A pair ofscrew members 222, 222 are screwed to the central portions of thereinforcement members 221, 221, respectively. The central axes of thescrew members 222, 222, which are identical to each other, are alsoidentical to the diametrical line of the cylinder 157. The screw member222 is screwed to the reinforcement members 221 so that the head portionof the screw member 222 is apart from the reinforcement member 221 bythe same distance as the thickness of the supporting arm 154. Each ofthe supporting arms 154, 154 has a support hole 192, which is formed inthe central portion of the supporting arm 154 so as to extend in thelongitudinal direction thereof. Shank portions 222 b of the screwmembers 222 are inserted into the respective support holes 192 so as tobe slidable and rotatable. The cylinder 157 is supported at its centralportion on the pair of supporting arms 154, 154 around the axis (i.e.,the screw members 222), which is perpendicular to the pair of supportingarms 154, 154.

[0174] As shown in FIGS. 25 to 27, a pressing body 158 is provided inthe inside of the cylinder 157 so as to be slidable therein. Thepressing body 158 presses the rear end of the cartridge 250, which isinserted into the cylinder 157, to squeeze the main body 260. Thepressing body 158 is pushed to move forward by the piston 153. Thepressing body 158 moves to the end of the cylinder 157 when fluidreceived in the cartridge 250 is used up. In this state, when a newcartridge 250 is inserted into the cylinder 157 from the other end, thebottom 280 of the cartridge 250 comes into contact with the pressingbody 158 or a small gap is formed between the bottom 280 of thecartridge 250 and the pressing body 158. Such an insertion operation ofthe new cartridge 250 can be applied to either a case where the pressingbody 158 is moved to the one end of the cylinder 157 or a case where thepressing body 158 is moved to the other end of the cylinder 157.Accordingly, in order to insert the new cartridge 250 into the cylinder157 after the pressing body 158 is moved to any one of the opposite endsto use up fluid received in the old cartridge, a simple insertionoperation of the new cartridge 250 into the cylinder 157 from the otherend will suffice and there needs no returning operation of the pressingbody 158.

[0175] When fluid received in the cartridge 250 with the use of thefluid discharging gun 151 having the above-described structure, thenozzle 156 is previously attached to the nozzle supporting member 155and the pressing body 158 is previously shifted to the one end of thecylinder 157. Then, the cylinder 157 is moved rearward so that the screwmembers 222, 222 come into contact with the rear edges of the supportholes 192, 192, respectively, and the cylinder 157 is swung so as to beperpendicular to the supporting arms 154, 154, as shown in FIGS. 25 and26. Any one of the above-mentioned sliding and swinging operations maybe carried out prior to the other of them. When the new cartridge 250 isexchanged for the used cartridge 250, the cylinder 157 is however firstslid rearward, and then swung, as described later. With respect to theswing operation of the cylinder 157, it is preferable to hold thesupporting arms 154, 154 horizontally and the cylinder 157 is swung sothat the one end of the cylinder 157, in which the pressing body 158 isfitted, locates in the lower side and the other opening end of thecylinder 157 locates in the upper side.

[0176] Then, the cartridge 250 is inserted into the cylinder 157 fromits other opening end. Such an insertion operation is carried out sothat the rear end of the cartridge 250 comes into contact with thepressing body 158 in the cylinder 157. After the insertion operation ofthe cartridge 250 is completed so that the reinforcement tube 270 comesinto contact with the opposite end of the cylinder 157, the cylinder 157is swung so as to be in parallel with the supporting arms 154, thuscausing the reinforcement tube 270 to face the nozzle supporting member155. Then, the cylinder 157 is slid forward. The sliding operation ofthe cylinder 157 may be carried out by holding directly it with a handand moving it or causing the piston 153 to press forward the pressingbody 158. The cylinder 157 is moved forward until the reinforcement tube270 comes into contact with the projection 205 of the nozzle-supportingmember 155. As a result, the tubular insertion portion 213 of the nozzle156 is fitted into the discharge port 271 of the cartridge 250 to breakthe sealing member 272. This makes it possible to cause the fluidreceived in the cartridge 250 to flow into the nozzle 156.

[0177] Then, the piston 153 moves forward as shown in FIG. 27 to pressthe bottom 280 of the cartridge 250 through the pressing body 158 tomove the bottom 280 forward. Consequently, the cartridge 250 is squeezedfrom its rear end into a bellows-shape, with the result that the fluidreceived in the cartridge 250 is discharged from the nozzle 156.

[0178] After the entire main body 260 of the cartridge 250 is squeezedto use up the fluid in the cartridge 250, the piston 153 moves rearwardas shown in FIG. 28 so as to be pulled out from the cylinder 157. Then,the cylinder 157 moves rearward. In this state, the tubular insertionportion 213 of the nozzle 156 is fitted into the discharge port 271 ofthe squeezed cartridge 250 in the pressing-in manner. The cartridge 250,which is connected to the nozzle supporting member 155 through thenozzle 156, is pulled forward from the cylinder 157 along with therearward movement of the cylinder 157. Then, The nozzle-supportingmember 155 moves rearward and swings by an angle of about 90 degrees asshown in FIG. 29 so that the used cartridge 250 locates below thenozzle-supporting member 155. In this state, the cylinder 157 may belocated in parallel with the supporting arms 154, 154. It is howeverpreferable to swing the cylinder 157 so as to locate vertically itslongitudinal axis, thus preventing the cylinder 157 from being ahindrance to the removal of the cartridge 250. Then, the cartridge 250is pulled out from the nozzle 156, while holding the portions of theouter peripheral surface of the reinforcement tube 270 of the cartridge250 with two fingers, which portions are exposed from an open space ofthe supporting tubular portion 202 and a cut-out 202 a formed on theperiphery thereof. In this state, the entire used cartridge 250 locatesbelow the supporting arms 154, 154 so that they do not hinder the holdof the reinforcement tube 270 and the removal of the cartridge 250 fromthe nozzle 156. It is therefore possible to remove easily the cartridge250 from the nozzle 156. After the removal of the used cartridge 250,the fluid discharging gun 151 can return to a state as shown in FIG. 25.The insertion of a new cartridge 250 into the cylinder 157 permits tocarry out a new discharging operation of fluid.

[0179] In the fluid discharging gun 151 of the fourth invention, thecylinder 157 is swingably supported on the supporting arms 154. It istherefore possible to insert the cartridge 250 into the cylinder 157,while holding the main body 152 with a single hand and holding thecartridge 250 with the other single hand. No passing operation of themain body 152, the cylinder 157 and the cartridge 250 from one hand tothe other is needed. After the fluid in the cartridge 250 is used up,the main body 152 is held with the single hand and the cylinder 157 isheld with the other single hand. After the cylinder 157 moves rearwardand the hold of it with the other single hand is released, the cylinder157 can be held with the single hand. It is therefore unnecessary toplace the cylinder 157 in the vicinity of the operator, thus preventingthe occurrence of a rolling problem of the cylinder 157.

[0180] The fourth invention is not limited only to the above-describedembodiments and includes further modified embodiments.

[0181] The other kind of cartridge 350 as shown in FIG. 33 may forexample be used in replacement of the above-mentioned cartridge 250. Thecartridge 350 is composed of a main body 360, a reinforcement tube 370,a nozzle portion 380 and a metallic fastener 390. The main body 360 isthe same as the main body 260 described above except that the former hasa constant outside diameter over its entire length. The reinforcementtube 370 is provided at the front opening end of the main body 360. Thenozzle portion 380 is screwed to the discharge port 371 of thereinforcement tube 370. The metallic fastener 390 closes therear-opening end of the main body 360. When the above-mentionedcartridge 350 is used for the fluid-discharging gun 151, the front endof the nozzle portion is cut off to open it.

[0182] The other kind of fluid discharging gun for discharging fluidreceived in the above-mentioned cartridge 350 has the same structure asthat of the fluid discharging gun 151 described above except for thematters described below. More specifically, the cartridge 350 has thenozzle portion 380, thus making it unnecessary to mount the nozzle 156on the nozzle-supporting member 155. When the cartridge 350 is used, thenozzle portion 380 is inserted into the insertion groove 204 of thenozzle supporting member 155 and the flange portion 212 is inserted intoa space between the reinforcement tube 370 and the nozzle portion 380.The nozzle portion 380 can surely be placed on the nozzle-supportingmember 155 and the cartridge 350 can also surely be placed thereon. Thefluid discharging gun for the cartridge 350 needs no projection 205.When the projection 205 is formed separately from the nozzle supportingmember 155 so as to be detachably fitted thereto, the fluid discharginggun 151 can be used for any one of the cartridges 250, 350.

[0183] When fluid is discharged from the cartridge 350 with the use ofthe fluid discharging gun having the above-described structure, thecartridge 350 is inserted into the cylinder 157, which is in the stateas shown in FIG. 25, and the cylinder 157 is then swung so as to be inparallel with the supporting arms 154. The swing operation of thecylinder 157 is carried out, while adjusting its position in thelongitudinal direction of the supporting arms 154. The end-plate portion201 is inserted into the space between the reinforcement tube 370 andthe nozzle portion 380 during such a swing operation of the cylinder157. Then, fluid received in the cartridge 350 is discharged therefromin the same manner as the cartridge 250. When the fluid in the cartridge350 is used up, the cylinder 157 is moved rearward to pull the cartridge350 out of the cylinder 157. Then, the nozzle portion 380 is held by ahand to move upward the cartridge 350 so as to be removed from thenozzle-supporting member 155. In this case, it is unnecessary to swingthe nozzle-supporting member 155. The other operations are carried outin the same manner as the cartridge 250.

[0184] According to the plastic container of the first invention asdescribed in detail, the formed member is joined to the inner surface ofat least one end the main body, which is formed of the plastic laminatefilm into the tubular shape, by the insert-injection process, thusmaking it possible to provide a larger effective area of the main body,on which the printing is to be applied, in comparison with theconventional plastic container.

[0185] According to the method for manufacturing a plastic container ofthe first invention as described in detail, the formed member is joinedto the inner surface of at least one end the main body, which is formedof the plastic laminate film into the tubular shape, by theinsert-injection process, and the inside diameter of the formed member,which locates in the insertion side of the mandrel, is larger than theoutside diameter of the formed member, which locates in the oppositeside, thus making it possible to pull easily the mandrel from the mold,without being hindered by the formed members.

[0186] According to the container for fluid of the second invention asdescribed in detail, it is possible to prevent the laminate film, ofwhich the main body of the container, from being caught between thecylinder of the fluid discharging apparatus and the pressing body. Inaddition, there is no need to use any tubular body into which thecontainer is to be inserted, and troublesome problems, which occurs wheninserting the container into the tubular body, can be avoided. It isalso possible to decrease an amount of wastes due to no use of anytubular body. There is no excess material for forming the container andan amount of adhesive as used is decreased. When the containercollapses, the laminate can deforms into a bellow-shape having a smallsize. As a result, when the container is squeezed finally, an amount offluid remaining in the container can remarkably be decreased.

[0187] According to the third invention as described in detail, it ispossible to prevent the film, of which the cartridge is formed, frombeing caught between the pressing body and the tube, for a long periodof time.

[0188] According to the fluid discharging apparatus of the fourthinvention as described in detail, it is possible to solve troublesomeproblems of carrying out the passing operation of the main body of thegun, the cylinder and the cartridge from one hand to the other orfitting the cylinder to the main body or removing it therefrom, when theexchange operation of the cartridge is carried out. It is also possibleto avoid the problem of rolling of the cartridge when exchanging it.

What is claimed is:
 1. A plastic container, which comprises: a main bodyformed of a plastic laminate film into a tubular shape; alarge-diameter-formed member joined to an outer surface of an end ofsaid main body by an insert-injection process; and asmall-diameter-formed member jointed to an inner surface of another endof said main body by the insert-injection process.
 2. The container asclaimed in claim 1, wherein: said large-diameter-formed member has agrip portion, which is formed on an outer and lower surface of saidlarge-diameter-formed member.
 3. A plastic container, which comprises: amain body formed of a plastic laminate film into a tubular shape; alarge-diameter-formed member joined to an inner surface of an end ofsaid main body by an insert-injection process; and asmall-diameter-formed member jointed to an inner surface of another endof said main body by the insert-injection process.
 4. The container asclaimed in claim 1, wherein: said large-diameter-formed member has aninside diameter, which is larger than an outside diameter of saidsmall-diameter-formed member.
 5. A method for manufacturing a plasticcontainer, which comprises the steps of: preparing a mold, which has afirst cavity for forming a large-diameter-formed member and a secondcavity for forming a small-diameter-formed member, said second cavityhas an outside diameter, which is smaller than an inside diameter ofsaid first cavity; forming a tubular body of a plastic laminate film;putting said tubular body on an outer surface of a mandrel serving as acore for said mold; placing said mandrel on which said tubular body hasbeen put, in said mold so that an end of said tubular body locatesinside said first cavity and another end thereof locates outside saidsecond cavity; and injecting synthetic resin material in a molten stateinto said first and second cavities of said mold by an insert-injectionprocess so as to form a large-diameter-formed member integrally with anouter surface of the end of said tubular body and form asmall-diameter-formed member integrally with an inner surface of theother end of said tubular body.
 6. A method for manufacturing a plasticcontainer, which comprises the steps of: preparing a mold, which has afirst cavity for forming a large-diameter-formed member and a secondcavity for forming a small-diameter-formed member, said second cavityhas an outside diameter, which is smaller than an inside diameter ofsaid first cavity; forming a tubular body of a plastic laminate film;putting said tubular body on an outer surface of a mandrel serving as acore for said mold; placing said mandrel on which said tubular body hasbeen put, in said mold so that an end of said tubular body locatesoutside said first cavity and another end thereof locates outside saidsecond cavity; and injecting synthetic resin material in a molten stateinto said first and second cavities of said mold by an insert-injectionprocess so as to form a large-diameter-formed member integrally with aninner surface of the end of said tubular body and form asmall-diameter-formed member integrally with an inner surface of theother end of said tubular body.
 7. A container for fluid, whichcomprises: a main body formed of a laminate into a tubular shape havingopposite opening ends, in which fluid can be received, said laminatecomprising a plurality of flexible films; and a pair of closing devices,which close the opposite opening ends of said main body, respectively,characterized in that: adjacent two films of said plurality of flexiblefilms are laminated so that at least one pair of opposing portions ofsaid adjacent two films can independently behave as the flexible film.8. The container as claimed in claim 7, wherein: said adjacent two filmsare joined with each other by means of at least one joined portion andportions of said adjacent two films other than said at least one joinedportion can independently behave as the flexible film.
 9. The containeras claimed in claim 8, wherein: said at least one joined portion isformed into at least one circular-shaped joined portion, whichcircumferentially extends on said main body in a shape of circle. 10.The container as claimed in claim 9, wherein: said circular-shapedjoined portion locates in an end portion of said main body.
 11. Thecontainer as claimed in claim 9, wherein: said circular-shaped joinedportion locates in each of opposite end portions of said main body. 12.The container as claimed in claim 9, wherein: said circular-shapedjoined portion locates in a middle portion of said main body in alongitudinal direction thereof.
 13. The container as claimed in claim10, wherein: at least one additional joined portion is formed, as saidat least one joined portion, into at least one circular-shaped joinedportion, which circumferentially extends on a middle portion of saidmain body in a longitudinal direction thereof.
 14. The container asclaimed in claim 8, wherein: said at least one joined portion is formedinto at least one longitudinal joined portion, which extends from theone end of said main body to the other end thereof.
 15. The container asclaimed in claim 9, wherein: at least one longitudinal joined portion,which extends from the one end of said main body to the other endthereof, is further formed as said at least one joined portion.
 16. Thecontainer as claimed in claim 7, wherein: the at least one joinedportion is formed by joining said adjacent two films by means ofadhesive.
 17. The container as claimed in claim 7, wherein: saidadjacent two films locate in an outermost position of said main body.18. The container as claimed in claim 7, wherein: said main body isformed by placing one edge portion of said laminate on another edgeportion thereof, and joining an innermost film of the one edge portionof said laminate with an outermost film of the other edge portionthereof.
 19. The container as claimed in claim 7, wherein: the closingdevice for closing the one opening end of said main body comprises afront-bottom member with rigidity, which is formed into a circular shapehaving substantially the same diameter as that of the one opening end ofsaid main body and has a hole formed in a central portion of saidfront-bottom member, and a sealing film for closing said hole; theclosing device for closing the other opening end of said main bodycomprises a rear-bottom member with rigidity, which is formed into acircular shape having substantially the same diameter as that of theother opening end of said main body; and said one opening end of saidmain body is joined to a periphery of said front-bottom member and saidother opening end thereof is joined to a periphery of said rear-bottommember.
 20. A fluid discharging apparatus, which comprises: a receivingtube having a pressing body, which is slidable in an inside of saidreceiving tube; and a piston for urging said pressing body to move same;a fluid dispensing cartridge, which comprises a film and is to beinserted into said receiving tube, being capable of being squeezed bypressing said fluid dispensing cartridge through said pressing body bymeans of said piston, so as to discharge fluid from said fluiddispensing cartridge; characterized in that: said pressing bodycomprises a tubular member, which is slidable on an inner peripheralsurface of said receiving tube, and a plate member formed on an innerperipheral surface of said tubular member; and a central portion of saidplate member is to be pushed by means of said piston so that said platemember elastically deforms into a curved shape.
 21. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 20, wherein: a peripheral portion of said plate memberis also pressed by said piston when force applied to said plate memberby said piston exceeds a prescribed value.
 22. The apparatus as claimedin claim 21, wherein: said piston comprises a central pressing portionfor pressing said central portion of said plate member and a peripheralpressing portion for pressing a peripheral portion of said plate member,said peripheral pressing portion being separately formed from saidcentral pressing portion.
 23. An installation apparatus for a fluiddispensing cartridge, which can detachably fitted to a fluid dischargingapparatus having a piston and comprises: a receiving tube being capableof receiving in its inside the fluid dispensing cartridge comprising afilm; and a pressing body being slidable in the inside of said receivingtube; movement of said pressing body by means of said piston of saidfluid discharging apparatus causing said fluid dispensing cartridge tobe squeezed; characterized in that: said pressing body comprises atubular member, which is slidable on an inner peripheral surface of saidreceiving tube, and a plate member formed on an inner peripheral surfaceof said tubular member; and said plate member has a projection, which isformed on a central portion of at least one of opposite surfaces of saidplate member, said piston being capable of coming into contact with saidprojection and pushing same so that said plate member elasticallydeforms into a curved shape.
 24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 23,wherein: said projection is formed on the central portion of each of theopposite surfaces of said plate member.
 25. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 23, wherein: said projection and a peripheral portion of saidplate member are pressed by said piston when force applied to said platemember by said piston exceeds a prescribed value.
 26. A fluiddischarging apparatus, which comprises: a main body; a piston, which isreciprocally movable on said main body; and a cylinder having a pressingbody, which is slidable in an inside of said cylinder, said piston beingcapable of coming into said cylinder to move said pressing body so thata fluid dispensing cartridge, which is to be inserted into saidcylinder, can be squeezed to discharge fluid from said fluid dispensingcartridge; characterized in that: said cylinder is movable relative tosaid main body in a reciprocal moving direction of said piston androtatable around a rotational axis, which is perpendicular to thereciprocal moving direction of said piston.
 27. The apparatus as claimedin claim 26, wherein: said rotational axis locates in an central portionof said cylinder in its longitudinal direction.
 28. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 26, wherein: said main body has a pair of supportingarms, which extend in a reciprocal moving direction of said piston; andsaid cylinder is positioned between said pair of supporting arms, saidcylinder being supported at its opposite side portions on said pair ofsupporting arms so as to be movable in a longitudinal direction thereofand rotatable around the rotational axis, which is perpendicular to saidpair of supporting arms.
 29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 28,wherein: a nozzle supporting device is provided at front ends of saidpair of supporting arms, said nozzle supporting device being supportedon said pair of supporting arms so as to be swingable around an axis,which is perpendicular to said pair of supporting arms; and a nozzle,which is to be connected to a front end of said fluid dispensingcartridge so as to discharge the fluid therefrom, is mounted on saidnozzle supporting device.
 30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 29,wherein: said nozzle supporting device is slidable within a prescribedregion in the longitudinal direction of said pair of supporting arms, aslide of said nozzle supporting device toward the front ends of saidpair of supporting arms preventing said nozzle supporting device fromswinging and the slide thereof toward a rear ends of said pair ofsupporting arms permitting said nozzle supporting device to swing.